The Wild Party (1975)

Flappers, speakeasies, and glittering marquees––director James Ivory knows what ingredients are necessary to put together The Wild Party (1975). Set in the roaring days of the 1920s, the glitzy Merchant-Ivory period piece is loosely based on a scandal involving famed silent-screen star Fatty Arbuckle. James Coco plays the rotund physical comedian, whose alcoholism and raging temper are causing mounting problems for his mistress, Queenie (Raquel Welch). When Arbuckle hosts a premiere screening for his new self-financed big-screen comedy, the actor and his adoring lover hope for the best. By the end of the evening, however, two people are dead, and the tabloids are ravenous for the story. Pictured in full-on flapper gear, Welch is her usual, vivacious self, but it’s costar Mews Small who steals the spotlight by indulging in some same-sex lovin’ at the Arbuckle mansion.